There is no shortage of rumors, especially regarding the video game industry. However, we have another one to share with you, and this time, it’s about a beloved franchise gearing up to enter full development on a brand-new installment. Mass Effect 5 is in the works, that much we know, as BioWare officially confirmed the game a few years ago. However, we’re not any closer to knowing just when this game will be arriving in the marketplace. Today, we’re learning of a new rumor suggesting that the development team might be dialing things back for this new game release.
The new rumor originates from The Xbox Two Podcast, which features industry insider and reporter Jez Corden. During the podcast, Jez noted that they had some rumors regarding Mass Effect 5. While unable to confirm how legitimate he believes these rumors to be, Jez stated that Mass Effect 5 won’t be featuring an open-world gameplay experience. Instead, the development team has decided to return to a classic format for the franchise. Since this is just a rumor, we don’t have much more to go off of right now, and it might stay that way for a good while.
BioWare didn’t have the best news last month. If you recall, in August, BioWare released a new statement on their official blog. It was unveiled that the development studio was laying off fifty roles from the company. Their goal is to shift towards a more agile and focused studio, and these layoffs came in part of this new restructure. Of course, for gamers, that’s concerning as you’re hopeful that their next set of releases will be able to captivate players while providing an immersive gameplay experience.
After all, their latest releases, outside of the remastered version of the original Mass Effect games, have not done well with players. Anthem launched in 2019, and it quickly fell flat, with developers striving to turn things around before scrapping support for the project back in February of 2021. Likewise, Mass Effect: Andromeda launched in 2017, and it had a pretty mixed reception from critics. At any rate, Mass Effect 5 doesn’t have much more news to go off of right now. The game is still in pre-production. Meanwhile, BioWare is still working to deliver its next installment to the Dragon Age franchise, Dragon Age: Dreadwolf. For now, while we wait for the game to have a new update, you can view the teaser for the title in the video embedded below.
